"From his years serving in British Intelligence during the Cold War to a career as a writer that took him from war-torn Cambodia to Beirut on the cusp of the 1982 Israeli invasion to Russia before and after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, John le Carre has always written from the heart of modern times. In this memoir, le Carre is as funny as he is incisive, reading into the events he witnesses the same moral ambiguity with which he imbues his novels. Whether he's writing about the parrot at a Beirut hotel that could perfectly mimic machine-gun fire or the opening bars of Beethoven's Fifth, celebrating New Year's Eve with Yasser Arafat and his high command, interviewing a German terrorist in her desert prison in the Negev, meeting with two former heads of the KGB, watching Alec Guinness prepare for his role as George Smiley in the BBC TV adaptations, or describing the female aid worker who inspired the main character in The Constant Gardener, le Carre endows each happening with vividness and humor. Best of all, le Carre gives us a glimpse of a writer's journey over more than six decades, and his own hunt for the human spark that has given so much life and heart to his fictional characters."--Provided by publisher. David John Moore Cornwell (born in 1931) (pen name John le Carre) is a British author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, he worked for the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service, and began writing novels under a pen name. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), became an international best-seller. Following the success of this novel, he left MI6 to become a full-time author.

2016-12

Don't be beastly to your Secret Service -- Dr Globke's laws -- Official visit -- Fingers on the trigger -- To whomsoever it may concern -- Wheels of British justice -- Ivan Serov's defection -- A legacy -- The innocence of Murat Kurnaz -- Going out into the field -- Bumping into Jerry Westerby -- Lonely in Vientiane -- Theatre of the Real : dances with Arafat -- Theatre of the Real : the Villa Brigitte -- Theatre of the Real : a question of guilt -- Theatre of the Real : terms of endearment -- The Soviet knight is dying inside his armour -- The Wild East : Moscow 1993 -- Blood and treasure -- The biggest bears in the garden -- Among the Ingush -- Joseph Brodsky's prize -- The wrong horse's mouth -- His brother's keeper -- Quel Panama! -- Under deep cover -- Hunting for warlords -- Richard Burton needs me -- Alec Guinness -- Lost masterpieces -- Bernard Pivot's necktie -- Lunching with prisoners -- Son of the author's father -- To Reggie with thanks -- The most wanted man -- Stephen Spender's credit card -- Advice to an aspiring novelist -- The last official secret.